Report of the Working Party on the Programme Plan and Programme Performance: Review of the technical cooperation activities of UNCTAD and their financing

The Trade and Development Board

1. Welcomes UNCTAD technical cooperation activities in 2024 which, despite a challenging international context, exhibited record high delivery, and expresses gratitude to the UNCTAD secretariat for the reports prepared for the Working Party on the Programme Plan and Programme Performance;
2. Reaffirms the role of UNCTAD technical cooperation as one of the three fundamental pillars of UNCTAD, and stresses the importance of coordination among those pillars for the development of effective policy recommendations, accompanied by related capacity-building activities;
3. Stresses the role of UNCTAD in contributing to the strengthening of multilateralism, in line with the Geneva Consensus (TD/561/Add.2);
4. Reaffirms the importance of the core mandate of UNCTAD in trade and development within the United Nations system, and asks the secretariat to enhance inter-agency collaboration for complementarity of work, greater impact and recognition;
5. Encourages UNCTAD to continue engaging with the United Nations resident coordinator system, with a view to promoting inter-agency and interdivisional assistance;
6. Takes note with concern of the downward trend in the share of UNCTAD extrabudgetary support to African countries and the least developed countries, and requests that the secretariat seek ways to reverse this trend;
7. Calls upon UNCTAD, in line with the Geneva Consensus, to continue or strengthen its technical assistance in addressing the specific needs of the most vulnerable developing countries, including African countries, the least developed countries, landlocked developing countries and small island developing States;
8. Appreciates the continuous efforts made by UNCTAD to implement its technical assistance through efficient use of available resources, and encourages UNCTAD to continue improving its results-based management approach to technical cooperation;
9. Encourages UNCTAD to broaden and diversify its donor base, and invites all countries in a position to do so to provide UNCTAD with increased multi-year contributions for a better ability to offer and better impact and sustainability of its technical cooperation, and stresses the relevance of non-earmarked funds.